Points Pertaining to the Use and
. Phonograph ( Continued )
The Phonograph as an Alarm C
Advertising by Phonograph
Doggerel “ U** -
The Modem Inventor
Personal Note -
Doggerel “V” -
Pan-American Note
The Phonograph in Navigation
Enterprising Bootblack
July Notes -
A New Storage Battery -
New Edison Records
of the Edison
11SJ8
The PHONOGRAM
POINTS PERTAINING TO THE USE AND CARE
OF THE EDISON PHONOGRAPH.
( Commenced in December number . )
By C. W. Noyes.
Chapter V . — How To Replace a Broken Spring.
%
This is a job that had best be placed in the hands of an
experienced repair-man but when this is inconvenient it is
well to know just how to go about it if the following
directions are closely adhered to no trouble should be ex-
perienced.
First of all, allow your machine to run completely down
thereby removing all tension from the spring or springs.
This is a point which is sometimes learned by sad experi-
ence and if once you forget this you will have occasion to
remember it forcibly for ever afterward.
After the spring is unwound remove the spring barrel or
casing which contains the spring.
Mark on the outside of spring barrel the direction of the
spring. That is, the direction of the coils of the spring
from outside end to inside end. This must be marked in
order that the new spring is put back in the same position
and with its coils running in the same direction as the old
one.
The barrel shaft, or shaft which connects with inside
end of spring should be removed and the spring removed
from casing.
Do not attempt to pull this out with the hand as the
Copyright 1901, by Herbert A. Shattuck.
r
JULY 1901 35
spring will uncoil with a great deal of force and is liable to
cut the operator. Perhaps the best way to remove the
broken spring is to tie a stout piece of cord or wire to the
inside end of spring and lay the barrel on the floor, and by
pulling on the cord the spring may be started and will
come out without danger of injury.
Do not attempt to hold it in any way but allow it to
take its own course and it will spin around rapidly as the
spring flies out and will do no harm.
Obtain a new spring of the same size as the old one and
see that it is held in shape by a wire twisted around it.
Determine the position it is to be inserted in the barrel
and drive the binding wire as close to the upper edge of
spring as possible. This must be done so that the wire
may be removed when the spring is placed in the barrel.
Set the spring in position with the hole in outside end of
spring about one inch ahead of the pin or projection in
barrel. Now pry the binding wire loose with a screw
driver and at the same time hold the spring down in the
barrel with a piece of board, when the binding wire is re-
moved the spring will relax and in so doing the hole in end
of spring will fit over the pin in barrel.
Now force the barrel shaft into position and see that the
pin in same fits into slot in inside end of spring. Replace
the barrel and spring in the machine and wind up slowly.
If the hole in outride end of spring has failed to catch
on the pin in the barrel, by winding the spring it will cause
the outride end to fly around and catch.
The spring should now be throughly dusted wjth graphite
(do not oil it) and the machine is again ready for use.
These directions seem simple enough but the fact is the
success the operator may have depends a great deal upon
-
3 6 the Phonogram
his mechanical ability and the writer would not advise the
reader who has no ability in a mechanical line to attempt
to replace a broken spring.
( To be continued )
THE PHONOGRAPH AS AN ALARM CLOCK.
A curious development of the Edison Phonograph is
found in the speaking watches and clocks now being
manufactured in Switzerland. The old repeater, which,
on the pressure of an attachment, would strike or repeat
the last hour, is thrown entirely into the shade by the new
invention. In the new form of watch a button is pressed,
but instead of a stroke of a bell the owner is informed of
the time in articulate speech. Alarm clocks are also made,
but instead of the usual small vibrating bell they call out:
“It's 6 o’clock! Get up; don’t go to sleep again!”
These talking watches and clocks are the invention of a
French manufacturer who has settled in Geneva. — From
the Jackson, Mich., Press.
' ADVERTISING BY PHONOGRAPH.
A clever Birmingham man has hit upon a brilliant adver-
tising scheme. It consists of automatically-worked Phono-
graphs imprisoned in pagodas such as are used by the tele-
phone company for some of their public-call offices in the
London Streets. The Phonograph is set and proceeds to
describe a pinner at Smith’s for so much or mentions that
the invisible and imprisoned speaker is wearing a suit of
Brown’s clothes, which are really startling value for a
small sum.
stands for USEFUL
te talking alarm
simply perfection;
works like a charm.
JULY 1901
37
U
% * * H * ••
. . * # # A A — -
THE MODERN INVENTOR.
“The day of haphazard inventing and haphazard dis-
coveries is rapidly passing,” said a local electrician the other
evening. “The up-to-date scientist grapples with a certain
problem ; he knows what he wants to get, he understands
the laws bearing on the subject, and he sits down calmly
to dig it out. Look, for example, at the new system of
long-distance telephony just perfected by Prof. Michael
Pupin of Columbia University, and sold for half a million
dollars cash and $17. 500 annual royalty! It is the biggest
scientific sensation of the day, and well deserves to be, not
only on account of the importance of the invention, but
because it sharply marks the line between the old and the
new methods.
“Ever since the telephone was invented, trouble has been
experienced in preventing waste of the electric current and
keeping enough of it on the wire to operate remote instru-
ments. It was known perfectly well that this waste or
leakage was due to vibrations, which became worse and
worse as the line was lengthened, and it was also known
that the vibrations could be deadened -or * dampened ’ by
putting occasional coils around the main, cables. But no-
body knew the laws that governed the vibrations them-
selves, so sometimes the coils would operate and sometimes
they wouldn’t; it was all guesswork. Well, that was the
problem young Prof. Pupin sat down to solve five years ago
— not with experimental machines, but with ample pencil
and paper. He saw at once that it was primarily a question
of mathematic, and for at least three years he toiled away,
slowly evolving the much-needed law of mechanical vibra-
tion. At last he rounded it out, and the rest was a mere
JULY 1901 39
matter of application, although he was occupied a couple of
years longer building cables for purposes of demonstration.
One of them was 500 miles long, coiled up in one im-
mense cellar, and it is said that that part of the work cost,
altogether, nearly $150,000. Who was the financial
sponsor of the undertaking hasn’t been stated, and in that
connection it is an interesting circumstance that Pupin and
Tesla, who are fellow countrymen — Servians — are the only
two eminent electricians of the day who have ample wealth
placed at their disposal for the development of their ideas.
Much curiosity has often been expressed as to Tesla’s un-
known banker, for he is personally poor ; and, in the case
of Prof. Pupin, it is clear that some generous capitalist was
at hand, ready and willing to back genius to the limit.
Rest assured, the big things of the future will be found by
highly trained specialists who know exactly what they are 1
going after and who are supplied with unlimited funds.
The result will then be merely a matter of so much brain
grind .” — New Orleans Times- Democrat.
PERSONAL NOTE.
It is with great pleasure that we announce that our Mr.
Shattuck has recovered sufficiently to enable him to leave
for Matamoras, Pa., where he hopes to fully regain his
health.
In all probability, before our next issue, he will be able
to'resume his labors in connection with this booklet.
“Kim.”
V is a VILLA
Whose Phonograph plan
Shows the owner to be
A good-hearted man.
JULY 1901
PAN-AMERICAN NOTE.
There is no doubt but what a great many of our readers
purpose visiting the great Fair at Buffalo some time between
now and November, and all who do will find something
of interest at our space in the Electrical Building.
All who are interested — and who are not ? — in the out-
come of the ideas emanating from the great brain of the
wonderful Thomas Alva Edison will be welcome, and the
time will be well spent in examining the “ Edison Labora-
tory Products.’*
MAKE IT YOUR HEADQUARTERS.
Have your telegrams and mail forwarded in our care,
and our Exposition Manager, Mr. W. H. Markgraf, will
give you a cordial greeting and make you feel at home.
THE PHONOGRAPH IN NAVIGATION
At the last meeting of the Polytechnic Society an engi-
neer named Leisner explained a new kind of Phonograph
for service at sea. By coupling together several membranes,
between each of which a microphone is fixed, he has suc-
ceeded in so strengthening the tone emitted by all sound
that any noise can be heard for a distance of three sea miles.
It is suggested that by means of this invention a commander
at sea will be able to issue his orders to all the ships in his
fleet, and that in the same manner ships will be able to
communicate with each other in the densest fog. Of course,
it would be equally useful on land, and railway accidents, it
is thought, may be also greatly diminished, as warnings
could be given at long distances apart.
— From the American , Baltimore, Md.
I
42
THE PHONOGRAM
ENTERPRISING BOOTBLACK.
Toledo has a bootblack who has the boldness and energy
of a Chicago pork packer. Enterprise is the slogan of the
day. Increased competition has brought this about, and
the bootblack has his little business schemes just as have
the bulls and bears on ’change. This youth of business
acumen has a little stand at the corner of St. Clair and
Madison Streets, and has as assistants a young man and a
boy. The stand contains some unique furniture for a boot-
blacking establishment. There are three chairs in the in-
closure, and at one end is a Phonograph with which cus-
tomers are entertained if they so will. At the other end is
a bushel basket of luscious apples with which the men with
shoes to be cleaned are also regaled. Sometimes when a
customer looks pretty particularly genial, the boys sell him
an apple or two. There is no telling but what the next
attraction will be a couple of dancing girls or a recherche
monologuist. — From the Journal , Boston, Mass.
“ That will be a popular song,” commented the com-
poser’s friend. “ Is it as bad as that ? ” groaned the com-
poser. — From the Detroit Free Press.
A DAINTY BIBELOT.
We Sat Apart by Eugene Lee ; a charming little love
poem, quaintly conceived, and written in a manner that
will appeal to all — especially lovers. It is choicely printed
on hand made deckle edge paper, and is bound in old style
wrappers. Price, postpaid, fifty cents. Auguste Giraldi,
No. 170 Fifth Avenue. New York City. — Adv.
?
\
The PHONOGRAM
SUBSCRIPTION THIRTY CENTS A YEAR
SINGLE NUMBERS, FIVE CENTS
Published by HERBERT A. SHATTUCK
at Number 135 Fifth Avenue, New York City
Printed Monthly for those interested in the Arts of Record-
ing and Reproducing Sound; also for those interested in
Animated Pictures. Official Handbook of The Order of The
Phonogram, A very Special Department ivill be devoted
to all Questions and Answers relating to Phones , Graphs ,
Grams , and Scopes. Correspondence welcomed by the Editor.
JULY NOTES.
[ “A queer thing about moving pictures for the Kineto-
scope,” said an expert operator in that line tome the other
day, “is the illusion they generally produce as to the time
they occupy on the screen. What is known as the
* standard exhibition film * is fifty feet long. It is used
almost entirely Tor comic scenes, trick pictures and other
effects that are gotten up in the studios of the experts who
make thenj a specialty. Every theatre-goer has seen them,
and I will venture the assertion that the average man will
declare they take at least three or four minutes in passing
before the eye. As a matter of fact the picture is on' the
screen less than one minute. You can easily figure it out
for yourself. The ordinary fifty-foot film of the kind to
which I refer is put through the reproducing machine at
the rate of sixteen pictures to the second. Each picture is
three-fourths of an inch broad, which makes the sixteen
measure exactly one foot, edge to edge $ in other words.
44
THE PHONOGRAM
the film travels a foot a second — fifty feet, fifty seconds.
What gives it the effect of taking up so much more time
is the immense lot of action that is crowded into the brief
period it is on view. Until the moving picture was in-
vented, I don’t think anybody had the least idea how much
could be done in fifty seconds. It seemed hardly enough
time to turn around in, yet when the experts began to study
its possibilities they found it was ample for hundreds of
little pictorial comedies that have since delighted audiences
all over the world. It is entirely a matter of rehearsal.
A subject is selected, generally calling for from three to
four people, and every detail of the business action is care-
fully worked out in advance.
“But some of the most telling effects in composition
pictures,” continued the operator, “have been the result
of accident and were entirely unpremeditated. That was
the case with the film that I had in hand preparing and
which afterward made a tremendous hit and proved to be
one of the best sellers ever put on the market. In getting
up the picture, our principal purpose was to introduce a
large and very intelligent bulldog I owned at the time, and
we sketched out a simple little scene in which a tramp
steals a pie from a kitchen window, is pursued by the dog,
and is last seen trying to scale the back fence, with the
animal hanging to his coattails. The training of the dog
was the main trouble, but I finally taught him to lay hold
of anything red, and we sewed a big piece of flannel as a
mark on the back of our tramp’s coat. Red photographs
black, so it couldn’t be seen in the pictures, and after a
good many rehearsals, the dog learned to dash out at exact-
ly the right moment and nail the marauder, whose cue was
then to rush for the fence and consume the remaining time
45
in making an apparently desperate effort to scramble over
the top. At last we got everything all ready, gave the
word, and started the record machine to take the picture.
Immediately the little comedy began the tramp appeared,
looked around stealthily, saw the pie, hooked it, and was
having a feast when out sprang the bulldog and seized him
by the coattails. He thereupon sprinted to the fence and
was about to carry out the rest of the programme, when,
to our consternation, the boards gave way and he came
down bang on top of the dog. The film had about ten
seconds to run, and they were occupied in recording one of
the liveliest scraps that ever happened. There was no
hippodrome about it. Both parties were out for blood.
When the fence fell, the bulldog had promptly transferred
himself from the tramp’s coattail to the tramp’s calf, while
that unfortunate person snatched up a broomstick and tried
to pry him loose. They rolled over and over and put
about fifty times as much action and animation in the last
ten seconds as had been crowded into the preceding forty.
We finally pulled them apart, and it was not until the
negative was developed that we realized what a prize we
had accidentally secured. That earnest and impromptu
windup has convulsed audiences all over Christendom, and
made fully as much of a hit in Europe as it did at home.
It is old now, but it is still a sort of standby in the vaude-
ville hpuses, and never fails to raise a laugh. If a man
had a monopoly of such lucky flukes, he would soon get
rich.”
i
!
4 6 THE PHONOGRAM
THE NEW STORAGE BATTERY.
« It is the simplest thing in the world," declares the
inventor in an interview.
Mr. Thomas Alva Edison has at last succeeded in accom-
plishing what all other electrical experts have been endeav-
oring to do for the past decade, and that is, to produce a
light-weight storage battery, without impairing its efficiency.
That this has been accomplished is evidenced by the feet
that a company was recently formed with a capital of
$1,000,000, the purpose of which is to manufacture and
market the perfected battery.
Herman E. Dick, of Chicago, 111 .; Walter S. Mallory,
and William E. Gilmore, of Orange, N.J., are the incor-
porators. The latter is General Manager of all the Edison
plants. An immense plant has already been secured by the
company at Glen Ridge, N. J., where a great number of
hands will soon be employed.
The present company will undoutedly be the parent
concern of subsidiary companies to be organized in other
countries.
It is said that the secret of Mr. Edison’s achievement
lies in the use of iron and nickel oxide plates in an alkaline
solution instead of lead and oxide. “ Kim.*’
NEW EDISON RECORDS
Both Standard and Concert Records may be ordered from
this list.
Transfer from Sweet to Mesloh
Concert Polka 2405 and Yankee Doodle 2434
7850 I must a -been a dreamin Comic coon duet Co Sc Na
7851 Tyrolienne, with variations Cornet solo Mes
NEW EDISON RECORDS
Hello Central Give me Heaven Sent' l song Har
Ma Blushin* Rosie, from Fiddle-dee-dee Miss N
Home Sweet Home Miss Price
She’s getting more like the white folks every
day Comic coon song Q
Olympia Hippodrome March Band E
Medley of Plantation Melodies Quartette E Q
Zamona, by the author of Salome Banjo O
Yale Boola March •with College cries. Orchestra P
The Birds and the Brook •with Bird effect li P
Uncle Josh Weathersby’s Kuskin* Bee Dance
Everybody present, “fiddler" and all, with
Uncle Josh “ Callin' off" Stw
Melancholy Mose, Coon song with Banjo
accompaniment and duet chorus Co
Calantha Waltzes ' Band E
When the Boys come home once more.
Military song from The Messenger Boy Du
As the Summer days go by Sentimental song Mah
Shultz on Hypnotism Comic Recit Ken
The Turkey and the Turk Comic song Den
Battle of the Waves March Banjo O
The Lamb’s Gambol “ O
Absence makes the heart grow fonder Sent' l song Mac
I’ve a longing in my heart for you, Louise “ Na
My Rainy Daisy Serio-comic love song My
A Coaching Party, Desc. selection , with coach
horn, stop for refreshments , dialogue and
effects Orch P
Ave Maria, adapted from Intermezzo Cavalleria
Rusticana Italian song V
Serenata Arragonesa Spanish song V
A la Luz de la Luna Dan%a. Spanish song V
Romanza del Diablo en el Poder Spanish song V
Tango de la Menegilda en La Gran Via “ V
Nara Swedish Elm
EDISON
PROJECTING
kinetoscope
s unequalled for HOME ENTERTAINMENT.
The improved machine is now so simple that an ama-
teur can operate it. Projects both moving pictures and
8tereopticon slides on the screen. The mechanism is
turned by hand. If electric current is not in your town
or in your house, w give you choice of other ways
of making the light.- Our catalogues give complete
information and lists of moving pictures.
DEPARTMENT E
EDISON M’FG. CO
ADVERTISEMENT